Portable magic, that’s what tarot cards can be for a lot of people. They are a way to visualize, manifest, and bolster magical intent in our lives and just like people, there are many ways to utilize them for this purpose. Each of these ways have their own benefits and drawbacks, it depends on the person and I encourage you to explore wildly to find what works for you.

The long and short of it is that to predict something means to deliver that knowledge before it comes to pass. What is being predicted though? It all boils down to action and consequence. Because the people that we read are not static beings in a void, they will have taken actions and will take action to make their life do something. A predictive reading then, will access what is a likely outcome or set of outcomes, rather than a straight 1 to 1 correlative outcome.

Sometimes the dust can settle and our nerves just aren't up to the task. We are still in fight or flight mode, ready to spring into action one way or the other at a moment's notice. What happens when waiting for that shoe to drop becomes ingrained in who we are?

When I first received this deck I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of oracle decks in my possession have so many cards, some bordering on too many. But this little pack of twenty-two cards does something beautiful with a smaller number of cards. From Diana Chin, this deck plays with color and teases the senses. Each of the cards has a cute, almost doodle like effect that appealed to me in it's simplicity. Often, decks are overcrowded with photoshopped images but this one is accessible and immediately so.

A person stands on a cliff overlooking the sea. What do they see coming over the horizon but a ship, their ship. Their ticket out into the world and the edges of their current knowledge. This has been all they know and now the time is here to take the next steps.

We all want something. That's human nature. It's also human nature to back away when we start getting what we want. This spring—as some pagans celebrate Ostara and may others, pagan and not alike—celebrate the arrival of the season, commit to staring down the fear and rising with renewed focus and dedication to the life you want to lead rather than the what if that has been holding you in stasis all winter long.

For a Virgo like me, my space is my space. No touchie. So when I set out on my path I immediately intrigued by the idea of sacred spaces. A place to work your craft and explore the esoteric shadows of my own? Hell yes!

Humanity is obsessed with death. From the business of dying to horror movies to what comes next, contemporary society is saturated in death. Yet, as we are obsessed with it, we are terrified of it. Even today we discuss in quiet rooms behind closed doors, often fighting an almost instinctual panic when the subject is broached. Of course, there are many other traditions, cultures, countries in this world that do not share such a troubled relationship with death or their dead, but I am not the most up to date on those things so I will let you seek out that information for yourself, it's truly fascinating so I hope that you do.

There are times when we can't help but cry over the spilled milk. When that happens we can so thrown by small bumps in the road that we lose sight of our goals. When this happens it is best to take stock as quickly as one can before the feelings of the moment overwhelm everything and we can't get out of our emotional wallow fast enough.

A man appears at the edge of his kingdom, globe firmly clasped in hand. Standing between two tall wands, he must choose the kingdom or the world. He cannot have both his comfort zone and the larger things that he desires so the question is, what does he do?

Not only is it an eclipse but it's also a time for us to utilize full moon energy, so a prosperity spell made sense to me! I didn't want to do anything overly complex so I did a lot of my specific practice behind the scenes and pared things down super much for the video I will be posting later this evening.

Balance is something we all strive for but how to go about getting it? Some people try each day to balance work and pleasure, so that they get equal amounts—only to find that that balance becomes harder to maintain every day.

The After Tarot is a unique spin on the snapshot images of tarot cards and what takes place immediately following the moment previously captured. This deck aims to shed further insight onto a set of cards that have been capturing hearts and minds of all ages since their inception in 1912.

When I first came out as a gay man it was with a sense of terror and relief, all wrapped into one, that greeted me. It was like jumping from a plane, you both want to and do not want to all at the same time. I graduated high school and moved to study at my four year university where I met several other people deeply interested in the occult, as I was. They came from every end of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, from cis-gendered and heterosexual to pansexual and trans*. We would meet and share stories of magic, tarot, what we did on the important calendar days, and how we worked with our various beliefs (we didn't all subscribe to the same beliefs per se) when surrounded by people who may not understand.

There is nothing worse than feeling at utter loss and not see the light at the end of the tunnel. The 9 of Swords is a card that represents all the fears, doubts, and insecurities we have about ourselves, the world around us, and well, everything.

As a person I like to believe that everyone is going to be kind and treat each other fairly. As a gay man and former customer service employee I know that that particular optimism can be sorely misguided. That's when a little magic is required.

A figure stands on an unsteady surface, balancing precariously. In their hands they hold two swords in the shape of an 'X' across their chest. In some card decks they have their eyes closed, in others they are blindfolded. This is the Two of Swords.

The Lovers is a card that can cause many querents to rejoice. This card certainly means love is in the air for them. But it can also mean a lot of work is on the horizon. Think about it, a lot of long, committed relationships take time to grow. They take effort to maintain and we as a society are fascinated by those who manage to stay together for decades on end; often asking them: "How did you do it?"

The Tower is often heralded as a card that signifies downfall, either of our ideas or practices, all the way up to things on a macro scale. Of course, this is often accomplished via disaster, chaos, and disruption. But does that have to be all?

First, and foremost, the cards exist on a plane of consciousness like our own. Not only do the cards reflect-at any given moment-the thoughts and attitudes of the person interpreting them, but they also change as both points of view and situations shift. For example, you may do a reading on a job prospect one day and divine that this job is totally yours. Imagine your dismay if you receive a phone call later say that they filled the position. Bummer, for sure. Grabbing the cards again you ask what happened, and the cards tell you that they hired someone from within the company. This could have been a last minute applicant or their goal all along-either way you're looking at a situation that can and did change.

Ideally, the one would come with a giant neon sign above their head and some hefty cash in their pocket. Or is that just me? No? But as we go through life what we need from our partners tends to change. The person I was in my younger years needed something utterly different than what I look for in a partner now. Because we simply won't know the one when they walk through the door, it is important to realize that this is okay, it makes us human.

Starting that list in our heads is at times the most Herculean of tasks we undertake. When it comes time to put off our own procrastination, the cards can be one of the handiest tools I have for personal motivation. Not just tarot, either! I'll be focusing on both a tarot and an oracle deck.

I have been struggling for a long time now to sit down and write blogs. It is not for lack of content. No, there is plenty of that. What it comes down to is that every time I sit down to write, my fingers poised on the keys, the words trapped behind my eyes-I freeze. I hit that metaphorical wall and there I stick, trying to squeeze myself through to the other side of motivation and free flowing creative juices.

When I was about seventeen, several years after beginning my journey with tarot, I had my first experience that I consider truly supernatural with the cards. I was reading a friend at a coffee shop and as we discussed the cards, I could not come up with an explanation for the Queen of Cups. In particular, I was absolutely fumbling when it came to who this person was. She was getting frustrated with me, too, I could tell. I had a moment then, as we both stared at this card where I felt like someone was trying to get my attention. I looked up and in my mind I saw this woman gesturing frantically to herself. She would point to my client, as she stood behind her, and then herself and shake her head. She then began to mimic a child growing up-using her hand to make them grow taller and taller.

Melanie Marquis and Scott Murphy have brought us a superb deck that quickly became my working deck for the foreseeable future. Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is a deck built for those that use tarot in their daily magical practices, visual meditations, or simply as a affirmation to focus on during the day.

"The spirit of an age may be best expressed in the abstract ideal arts, for the spirit itself is abstract and ideal."-Oscar Wilde

The first thing that you notice with the Linestrider Tarot is that it is a Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) derivative. While the RWS derivations have tended to dominate the market, Linestrider gives us a very beautiful, more abstract take on the Fool's Journey throughout the deck.

A figure swathed in cloth to fend off the night air holds a lantern filled with starlight coaxed from the heavens themselves. The lantern glitters in the blue black of night and shows a way forward a step at a time. If the world rises up and overwhelms you, it is best to just take a step back and observe the world. She’s finding something new to believe in. Heart and soul are the commandments she lists now in her diatribes. She has to talk her way through it and it’s my turn to listen her rationalize the thoughts I first handled months, years, before. It isn’t easy for this woman to do. She’s five foot two inches of feisty convictions and struggling comprehension.